John Gunner obituary

John Gunner was sad that so few men considered entering primary education

My friend John Gunner, who has died aged 76, was a dedicated teacher who influenced education through his work for the National Union of Teachers (NUT). In 1974, John's speech to the union's conference was instrumental in its policy of campaigning for the abolition of corporal punishment in state schools, a practice he hated. In 1980 he argued against the injustice of unequal pension benefits for the surviving partners of teachers.

John was twice president of the Winchester and district branch of the NUT and once of the Hampshire county branch, and acted as secretary for both. He served on the teachers' liaison panel and the joint consultative committee of Hampshire county council, stating often that a teacher's working conditions were also a child's learning conditions. He was also a member of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education and an external examiner for the Council for National Academic Awards.

John was born in Egham, Surrey, and was one of the first to benefit from the Education Act of 1944 when he passed the 11-plus to gain a place at Strode boys' grammar school (now Strode's college). The family moved to Winchester in 1949. John worked in the administration department of the fire service before being called up for national service in the Devonshire Regiment.

After demobilisation he trained at King Alfred's College, now Winchester University. Primary education was a non–graduate profession and John worked alongside men who had received only the emergency training brought in after the second world war. Later in his career, he was sad that so few men considered entering primary education. He believed that a balanced staff was better for children.

John studied for further qualifications, becoming headteacher of Durley school in Hampshire in 1968. In 1971 he was asked to become the first head of South Wonston primary school in Winchester, where he created a happy and successful establishment. His final appointment, in 1980, was to Stanmore school, Winchester, then the largest primary in Hampshire. When a parent requested that he introduce a compulsory uniform, his response was typical. He would much rather a child arrived with a good breakfast inside them and a hug from a parent than be in the correct clothes.

After retirement he set up local authority training courses for school governors and for 12 years was a governor of Colden Common school in the village where he lived with Pat, his wife of 54 years, and their children, Tim, Sue and Anthony. They and two grandchildren survive him.